Top 5 Most Confusing Vestigial Parts in Transformers Toys

Every two weeks, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. These are my opinions (just like movie or game reviews hosted by sites are still just the opinion of one person) so what matters most is what you guys think of the topic or list, and I hope to see your own lists or comments on omissions and ranking. Let's have fun! All previous lists can be found here.

Top 5 Most Confusing Vestigial Parts/Features in Transformers Toys

These are all parts on Transformers that initially confused me when I got them. They serve no purpose as per the instructions and yet have a functional aspect to them, or appear to. I had fun writing this list and I hope you have fun reading it! Make sure to share other unused parts on Transformers that confused you.

5. Optimus Minor's Four Arms

What was up with that? No seriously, his arms splitting into two is not featured on any art, or
the instructions and has nothing to do with the transformation. We know that one of the most expensive parts of producing toys is doing the molds and yet this odd feature that is never used meant that we needed to have more molds so that each arm (and hand ) could split into two. It's just ridiculous from a product making standpoint, regardless of how fans feel about it.

4. Seats in G1 Dinobots

I am well aware that these flaps in the G1 dinobots are a leftover of the functionality of having pilots ride in these dino mechs in the Diaclone line. But in the Transformers line where the robots are sentient and autonomous, these seats serve no purpose and were sure to confuse kids back in the day. Even though no Transformers came with plot figures, it made perfect sense to see seats in the transforming cars and jets. But not on Dinosaurs.

3. Tank Legs on Universe Galvatron

Anyone transforming Universe Galvatron without looking at the instructions will come across a rather stupefying moment when they pull out these extra legs from the tanks that serve no purpose anywhere. These pieces were actually part of a dropped third mode where you could have a four legged tank (where the other two legs would simply be the robot feet reused).

2. Spark Cockpits in Transmetal 2 Ultra Figures

This one confused me to no end as a child. I got Transmetal 2 Megatron at a comunity yard sale in a church's basement when I was much younger and remember being overjoyed. I also remember by puzzlement at seeing that small seat constantly swiveling inside an orange orb. This wasn't on the show and most toys since season two were quite show accurate so what was going on here? Well, I learnt years later that this was another dropped feature where Megatron and Optimal Optimus had detailed cockpits to house small figures which were anthropomorphic versions of their sparks. It really seems Hasbro is much opposed to any type of piloting so that never saw the light of day... in the west. The Takara version of Cryotek (which has "USA Edition" written on the box, leading to lots of confusion) does have a small figure riding in that sphere and it is made to look like Beast Wars Megatron in his original form (before he took on a beast alt mode).

This is my number one because it is a real shame and unlike everything else on this list, does not need to be dropped. It could easily have been used and to wondrous effect. Notice how G1 perceptor has wheels in his "mobile laboratory mode" (what is commonly referred to as his "tank" mode) ? Well one of them, the one on his back, does not reach the ground. Instead it just stays up in the air. But if you were to just bring down the giant scope/lens/cannon/long cylinder to be parallel to the floor, the wheel would touch and you would end up with a really good looking tank mode that rolls super well. This was one of the 4 modes the original Micrchange toy had and or some nonsense reason (it cant be to tone down violence, they brought the transforming gun over), Hasbro chose to ignore the awesome tank mode and instead give us instructions for the mobile laboratory, which makes no use of that wheel and just looks odd. It was easily the most useless of the 4 modes that were advertised in the toy's original Micrchange release so why did they not drop that mode in favour of the tank? If that would have been the case G1 Perceptor could have easily been the best official G1 triple changer. Instead that tank mode is technically a "fan mode" in Transformers lore and that's pretty nuts. But at least the toy can still pull off the real tank mode and we can all still have fun with it. I only wish it was official and featured in the instructions.

I love this list! Unfortunately I don't have my own to contribute, but this shows how in-depth and creative Willy J can get! Good job!

Actually, I like the 4-legged tank Galvatron, looks like something out of Star Wars. As for Perceptor, I never knew he could be converted into that "tank" mode, I think it looks bad ass, especially with someone riding him. If I still had my G1 Percy I would definitely put him in that mode right now.

Maybe I can come up with my own list later, but now I'm too tired to think of some obscure stuff on 5 different figures.

Most of these actually never bothered or perplexed me as a kid, the arms on optimus i always figured were for being able to climb while using weapons or being able to navigate through trees more easily, the holds in the dinobots & other g1 figures i assumed were some kind of storage, the seat in megatron was a spark holder (i didnt get the toy until after the show aired so i knew thats where g1 megs spark was stored), galvatron i was an adult when he came out and figure the legs were for an undocumented cannon mode (after not figuring it out i searched online and found the abandoned tank mode so that one i guess kinda made me a bit confused), and perceptor i didnt own until the reissue and by then i knew about the diaclone stuff and had no idea hasbro never showed the tank mode.

Side note: i think the beast war mutant mask things should've made the list, im sure anyone who buys those figures now & doesnt know about them would be pretty confused. Hell even back when they came out im sure people were confused especially when the show finally aired, i know one of the first things i asked when i first watch was "where are the masks?"

Black Bumblebee wrote:I would have to put the Beast Wars season 1 "beast masks" on this list. They served no purpose. They were pretty much ignored in the animation.

They were not ignored. Tarantulas and Waspinator heads in the cartoon were their mutant masks. They decided to use those instead of the robot heads to make some characters have unique appearances. If they were ignored we would have gotten those two with their generic robot heads. The mutant masks have a couple characters their icon looks.

bacem wrote:ok, wait a sec. you said perceptor originally has 4 modes? there are 4th mode? i am aware of robot, microscope, and tank, but what's the 4th mode?

I realize I forgot to add 2 images to the article. You can see all his modes in the article now. Its robot, microscope, mobile telescope and tank. The US version never documented the actual tank to the point where the Titans Return toy doesnt let you do it the right way.

Randomhero wrote:

Black Bumblebee wrote:I would have to put the Beast Wars season 1 "beast masks" on this list. They served no purpose. They were pretty much ignored in the animation.

They were not ignored. Tarantulas and Waspinator heads in the cartoon were their mutant masks. They decided to use those instead of the robot heads to make some characters have unique appearances. If they were ignored we would have gotten those two with their generic robot heads. The mutant masks have a couple characters their icon looks.

Yup! Plus they were part of the original art for some, they were also in the instructions (from what I remember) so they are documented features and while I agree that they are confusing, they are not an abandoned features nor are they remnants of something else. They arent vestigial.

Some of the other Transmetal 2 figures had four arms too. I guess it was a dropped feature. Also, the Dinobot Prime armor kind of looks like the seats on the G1 figures, so we finally have some cannon pilots.

Anyone transforming Universe Galvatron without looking at the instructions will come across a rather stupefying moment when they pull out these extra legs from the tanks that serve no purpose anywhere. These pieces were actually part of a dropped third mode where you could have a four legged tank (where the other two legs would simply be the robot feet reused).

You can thank me for this one. Let me explain: I used to be a member on a site called Raving Toy Maniac (toymania.com), for somewhere around 15 years. For a short time Hasbro would contact various toy sites and have them send in questions that Hasbro would answer more often than not for monthly Q&A sessions. On most sites the owners would ask the questions, but on RTM the owners let us forum members and they'd just pick whatever ones they found the most compelling. A few of us had asked about the weird feet on Galvatron so the question was passed on to Hasbro. Hasbro responded that the figure had originally been meant to be Voyager class but came up with the lame excuse that there were too many Voyager tanks at the time (there weren't and really who would complain about such a thing?) so they decide to shrink him down to Deluxe and his walker mode was lost in translation. They (whoever it was that answered the questions) said some day they'd show us how the figure was supposed to look. After months of waiting and it seeming unlikely that the pic would ever surface I basically asked at another Q&A what the hold up was, when are we going to see the image (but nicer)? And that sketch was their response. I thought they'd just take a picture of the figure and call it a day, I never thought they'd do such a detailed drawing which I don't know if was part of the design process or if they got someone from Takara Tomy to throw it together just to answer the question.

I think Titians return Galvatron was meant to be a deluxe. His pop up helmet feature is different from every other voyager of the line, and his backpack is only used in a kind of bad jet mode. Also, the chest compartment that holds the helmet seems like it would be a better titian master seat for the cannon mode if he was smaller. I know it’s a weird fan theory, but it would be funny if he had another class change halfway through a design.

While I don’t dont support and/or condone oversized KOs like some 3rd party companies are doing, if someone like Weijang took Universe Galvatron, upscaled it to voyager like it was suppose to and maybe fix his smooshed face, I’d buy it in a heart beat. It’s a solid design and looks awesome it’s just scaled too small for its own good which makes it so prone to fall apart in your hands.

Dude Gatsby wrote:I think Titians return Galvatron was meant to be a deluxe. His pop up helmet feature is different from every other voyager of the line, and his backpack is only used in a kind of bad jet mode. Also, the chest compartment that holds the helmet seems like it would be a better titian master seat for the cannon mode if he was smaller. I know it’s a weird fan theory, but it would be funny if he had another class change halfway through a design.

No he was always intended to to be a voyager becuase he’s a triple changer. His jet was designed along with him. Wasn’t an upscaled after thought. It was always intended to the size it is becuase he’s a Decepticons leader and was rival pack for his wavemate

I had G1 Scorponok 19 years before I realised there was a cover on Zarak's back to cover Scorponoks face.

It wasn't mentioned on the instructions. Scorponok and Snapdragon were the only Headmasters I had as a kid and while I discovered early on that Snapdragon's mouthplate could flip, I assumed it was for when Krunk became the dragon head.

It wasn't until 2006 when I got Kabaya Highbrow and Brainstorm that I made the discovery. Building them both, their forehead panels were obvious which encouraged me to examine Zarak.

Dude Gatsby wrote:I think Titians return Galvatron was meant to be a deluxe. His pop up helmet feature is different from every other voyager of the line, and his backpack is only used in a kind of bad jet mode. Also, the chest compartment that holds the helmet seems like it would be a better titian master seat for the cannon mode if he was smaller. I know it’s a weird fan theory, but it would be funny if he had another class change halfway through a design.

No he was always intended to to be a voyager becuase he’s a triple changer. His jet was designed along with him. Wasn’t an upscaled after thought. It was always intended to the size it is becuase he’s a Decepticons leader and was rival pack for his wavemate

Plus the mask is a necessary part of giving him the right head shape (even if the end result was a mess). The spring loaded mask is the equivalent of the other Voyagers all having spring loaded parts that pop up next to their heads to make them look a little bigger (Op's "ears", Alpha Trion's horns, etc). So yeah, no matter how you look at it he's always been a Voyager.

Dude Gatsby wrote:I think Titians return Galvatron was meant to be a deluxe. His pop up helmet feature is different from every other voyager of the line, and his backpack is only used in a kind of bad jet mode. Also, the chest compartment that holds the helmet seems like it would be a better titian master seat for the cannon mode if he was smaller. I know it’s a weird fan theory, but it would be funny if he had another class change halfway through a design.

No he was always intended to to be a voyager becuase he’s a triple changer. His jet was designed along with him. Wasn’t an upscaled after thought. It was always intended to the size it is becuase he’s a Decepticons leader and was rival pack for his wavemate

Plus the mask is a necessary part of giving him the right head shape (even if the end result was a mess). The spring loaded mask is the equivalent of the other Voyagers all having spring loaded parts that pop up next to their heads to make them look a little bigger (Op's "ears", Alpha Trion's horns, etc). So yeah, no matter how you look at it he's always been a Voyager.

Emerje

While he has always been a Voyager, I think I recall hearing once that he wasn't originally designed as a part of Titans Return. (If anyone can back me up with a source, awesome.) Hence why he has a flip up mask rather then the pylons on either side of his head that every other Titans Return Voyager has, and why the compartment that the mask folds into being cavernous enough to hold an entire head.

So I suppose the size of the chest compartment is a bit of a vestigial feature... But, on the bright side, it allows for storage of the plethora of third party helmet options, such as this nifty one I got from Toyhax:

Dude Gatsby wrote:I think Titians return Galvatron was meant to be a deluxe. His pop up helmet feature is different from every other voyager of the line, and his backpack is only used in a kind of bad jet mode. Also, the chest compartment that holds the helmet seems like it would be a better titian master seat for the cannon mode if he was smaller. I know it’s a weird fan theory, but it would be funny if he had another class change halfway through a design.

No he was always intended to to be a voyager becuase he’s a triple changer. His jet was designed along with him. Wasn’t an upscaled after thought. It was always intended to the size it is becuase he’s a Decepticons leader and was rival pack for his wavemate

Plus the mask is a necessary part of giving him the right head shape (even if the end result was a mess). The spring loaded mask is the equivalent of the other Voyagers all having spring loaded parts that pop up next to their heads to make them look a little bigger (Op's "ears", Alpha Trion's horns, etc). So yeah, no matter how you look at it he's always been a Voyager.

Emerje

While he has always been a Voyager, I think I recall hearing once that he wasn't originally designed as a part of Titans Return. (If anyone can back me up with a source, awesome.) Hence why he has a flip up mask rather then the pylons on either side of his head that every other Titans Return Voyager has, and why the compartment that the mask folds into being cavernous enough to hold an entire head.

So I suppose the size of the chest compartment is a bit of a vestigial feature... But, on the bright side, it allows for storage of the plethora of third party helmet options, such as this nifty one I got from Toyhax:

That looks hideous. All those ridiculous options are awful because they’re all stupidly oversized and looks like he’s wearing a helmet becuase he has a soft spot.

I’m 100% fine with the helmet version TR Galvatron came with. That little featured gimmick doesn’t ruin my enjoyment of the entire toy

Randomhero wrote:That looks hideous. All those ridiculous options are awful because they’re all stupidly oversized and looks like he’s wearing a helmet becuase he has a soft spot.

I’m 100% fine with the helmet version TR Galvatron came with. That little featured gimmick doesn’t ruin my enjoyment of the entire toy

It didn't ruin it for me either, but I like what I have now soooo much better. I think it looks proportional, and has the benefit that it gives him full use of his head articulation. But, to each their own. The beauty of options is that we can each enjoy our toys the way we want to!

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